Browne, Sir John

Browne, Sir John
▪ 2001

      With its $27 billion acquisition of Atlantic Richfield Co. in 2000, BP Amoco became the world's second largest producer of oil and natural gas. At the helm of the ever-growing energy giant was chief executive officer Sir John Browne, a shy, private, unmarried man who lived with his mother and was known for his long work hours and unflagging loyalty to the company that had employed him for more than 30 years. Browne's personal life, daring deals, and calls for environmentally sound business practices made him an odd and highly recognizable character within the oil industry. When Browne took charge of British Petroleum (BP) in 1995, it was a company that had no clear direction and had just raised itself from debt. Browne laid out a plan to expand BP and, in the process, protect it from fluctuating oil prices while grabbing a larger share of the market for natural gas, which increased in demand as producers reacted to consumers' wishes for cleaner alternatives to oil.

      Browne first made waves in 1997 when he abandoned the oil industry's customary resistance to more environmentally friendly production procedures. He later promised to see that BP cut its emission of greenhouse gases by 10% by 2010. In 1999 BP Amoco began a plan to power 200 of its retail outlets by using solar panels. Although some environmentalists were skeptical, Browne said that he was responding to the wishes of consumers, who, he believed, would continue demanding cleaner alternatives to fossil fuel. He backed this up in April 1999 by spending $45 million for a controlling interest in Solarex and thereby making BP Amoco the world's largest solar-energy concern. He also created a major commotion in the petroleum industry in August 1998 when he announced BP's $57 billion agreement to merge with Amoco, which effectively eliminated one competitor while sending industry giants Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, and Chevron scrambling to attempt their own mergers in response.

      Edmund John Phillip Browne was born on Feb. 20, 1948, in Hamburg, Ger. At the suggestion of his father, who worked for BP, he took a position with the firm in 1966 as an apprentice while studying at the University of Cambridge, where he earned a degree in physics. He later received a business degree from Stanford University and held various positions at BP in exploration and production before becoming group treasurer and chief executive officer of BP Finance International in 1984. He became CEO of the Standard Oil Co. after it merged with BP in 1987, and he continued his climb up the BP management ladder until he was named CEO in 1995. Browne was knighted in 1998.

Anthony G. Craine

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sir John Reresby, 2nd Baronet — (April 14 1634 – May 12 1689) was a seventeenth century English politician, author, and gentleman.Early lifeReresby was born at Thrybergh, Yorkshire in 1634, the was the eldest son of Sir John Reresby. His mother, Frances, was daughter of Edmund… …   Wikipedia

  • Sir John Burke, 2nd Baronet — Colonel Sir John Burke, 2nd Baronet (1782 ndash; 14 September 1847) was an Irish soldier and politician.The son of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Baronet and Christian Browne, he served in the 98th Foot, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1804 and …   Wikipedia

  • Browne, Sir Thomas — born Oct. 19, 1605, London, Eng. died Oct. 19, 1682, Norwich, Norfolk British physician and author. While practicing medicine, he began a parallel career as a writer. His best known work, Religio Medici (1642), is a journal of reflections on the… …   Universalium

  • John Evelyn — (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn s diaries are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and… …   Wikipedia

  • Sir Anthony Browne (d.1548) — Sir Anthony Browne (died 6 May 1548) was the son of Sir Anthony (or Ambrose) Browne, Standard Bearer of England and Governor of Queenborough Castle, by his wife Lucy Nevill, daughter of John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu. He married Alice,… …   Wikipedia

  • John Tovey — John Cronyn Tovey, 1. Baron Tovey, GCB, KBE, DSO, DCL (* 7. März 1885 in Borley Hill, Rochester, co. Kent; † 12. Januar 1971 in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal), war ein britischer Admiral; 1940–42 Oberbefehlshaber der Home Fleet; 1943 Admiral of the… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet, of London — Sir Richard Browne, 1st Baronet (c. 1610 1669) was a Major General in the English Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was subsequently Lord Mayor of London.Browne was of low birth, born sometime prior to 1616, to John Browne… …   Wikipedia

  • John Browne, 1st Baron Kilmaine — (20 May 1726 7 June 1794), known as Sir John Browne, 7th Baronet, from 1765 to 1789, was an Irish Member of Parliament.Kilmaine was the younger son of Sir John Browne of The Neale, 5th baronet, and Margaret Dodwell. His father was the de jure 5th …   Wikipedia

  • John Evelyn — John Evelyn, écrivain anglais du XVIIe siècle. John Evelyn (né le 31 octobre 1620 à Wotton dans le Surrey et mort le 27 février 1706 à Londres) est un écrivain, paysagiste et mémorialiste anglais qui entretint une correspondance suivie avec …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Sir Nugent Everard, 1st Baronet — Sir Nugent Talbot Everard, 1st Baronet (24 October 1849 – 12 July 1929) was an Irish senator elected to the 1922 Seanad Éireann. Everard was nominated by the President of the Executive Council and sat as an independent member. In 1902 he was one… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”